Using LoopBe1

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Using LoopBe1

2015-11-25 04:01 am

Hello, all,
It has been some time since I have frequented and posted here. I'm still active composing, and love to use NWC more than any other program. This year for Christmas, a friend and I decided to do parts of Handel's Messiah for our church's Christmas Eve service. My job is to arrange soundtracks for us to sing by. I use a Roland JV-1080 for MIDI sounds, and love the orchestral expansion module sounds they offer. I was, however, looking for a "on laptop" solution that would enable me to arrange anywhere, and not be constrained by hooking up the M-Audio Midisport 2+2 and JV for music.
I came upon the Miroslav Philharmonik, which I know some, if not most of you are familiar with. I actually bought the program before I searched the archives and found out - as many have - that the program does not work well with others. I have never been a fan of VST or other plugins, either. So, after much frustration (and prayer!), I want to share a solution that is so simple, it is elegant!
The program is LoopBe1. It connects two MIDI devices on your laptop or computer by simply offering another MIDI port in and out. And it works beautifully. I simply installed LoopBe1 and assigned "MIDI out" in NWC, and "MIDI in" in Miroslav. It was so easy I was floored. I'm sure there are other MIDI port programs like this one, but I wanted to share my success with all of you. As for the Miroslav, I use a ASIO driver, which offers much superior sound than DirectX.
Here is the link if you are interested. Some of you may already know of this, but for those that don't:

http://www.nerds.de/en/loopbe1.html

Best Regards,
Mark

Re: Using LoopBe1

Reply #1 – 2015-11-25 08:52 am

Good job Mark,
That configuration is quite good, I'm using it right now too. If you need more than one virtual MIDI interface you may want also try:

LoopBe30: the same as LoopBe1 but it supports up to 30 in/out, however it's not freeware.
MIDI Yoke: It gives you up to 8 in/out and works fine with Noteworthy. The problem is that this software hasn't been updated since 2007... it runs on WinXP but I'm not tested it on Win7, Win8.1 or Win10.
Maple Virtual MIDI: It's very similar to MIDI Yoke, and it supports up to Win7.

And now some other info that you might find interesting:
VSTs don't limit to virtual instruments. You can also use effect VST, so using your DAW you can add some interesting effects to your sound, like beautiful reverbs, stereo panners and several equalizers to improve the sound. Most of DAWs (like cubase, protools, ableton, etc...) usually needs an audio interface for best performance and most of those DAWs are very heavy and require more system memory... so here's an interesting alternative: Cantabile Software. It acts as an VST Host so you can route your sound from one VST (instrument) to other (effects) to improve the sound. There's a freeware version (Cantabile Lite) very functional, and the profesional versions (solo and performer) have more options for live performances (MIDI triggers, sub-sessions, and more...).
Keep in mind that VSTs need lots of RAM, so if your laptop have less than 4Gb using more than two or three VST simultaneously would be a problem (noises, latency, system crash, etc...)
Here you have some useful links:

MIDI Yoke: Virtual MIDI interface for (up to) WinXP.
Maple Virtual MIDI: Virtual MIDI interface for (up to) Win7.
Cantabile Lite: Useful VST Host. You can use it with LoopBe, and the 'Lite' version is free.
Voxengo: Very interesting effects VST collection. It has lots of very cool free VST.
GVST: Very interesting effects VST collection. It has lots of very cool free VST.

Enjoy music

Lloyd.

Re: Using LoopBe1 (and alternatives)

Reply #2 – 2015-11-25 10:03 am

The one I use is loopMIDI.
With loopBe1, you can have only one connection (but there is loopBe30...), which was not enough when I had to run two MIDI signal chains.
MIDI Yoke I could never get up and running on my Win7 laptop, so I threw it out quite quickly.

H.M.

Re: Using LoopBe1

Reply #3 – 2015-11-25 11:00 pm

I've been using LoopBe1 for years in conjunction with SyFonOne, which is classed as a "MIDI port player" rather than a VST - it serves the same function with less setup hassle (virtually none, actually). I use the FluidR3 GM soundfont, which has quite realistic sound across most of the instruments. Everything I've just mentioned is freeware. Maybe not quite Garritan or Vienna quality, but the price is right and the sound is more than satisfactory, and NWC works seamlessly with it all, at least on Win8.1. Haven't tried 10 yet, but I know that SyFonOne was just updated, presumably to make it work better with 10. Other people might find this worth a try.

Re: Using LoopBe1

Reply #4 – 2015-11-26 12:13 am

Quote

[...] in conjunction with SyFonOne, which is classed as a "MIDI port player" rather than a VST - it serves the same function with less setup hassle (virtually none, actually). I use the FluidR3 GM soundfont, [...]

Hey William, if you still use soundfonts (with SyFonOne, or something else) maybe you'd like to check THIS post (Bart's reply). It's about a very interesting utility for using with soundfonts. I found it few months ago and it became one of my MIDI outputs since then. Easy to use, easy to configure, and compatible up to Win10.
Take a look

Re: Using LoopBe1

Reply #5 – 2015-11-26 12:44 am

Saw that. Considered it. Decided it probably wouldn't do anything I need that SyFonOne wasn't already doing for me. The sound font would be the same, in any event, and that's what counts.

BTW, for those who want decent sound as a final output but don't want to set up any of the software to do it, there's an online alternative. Export your file as a MIDI and then upload it to http://solmire.com/. You can choose from about 16 different GM fonts, including FluidR3. The site will convert your MIDI to an mp3 using the font of your choice; you have an hour to download the mp3 after the conversion is finished. Totally free. I use it regularly for producing sound files to send out with scores.

Bill